Anticipate

It was more cost-effective in a down economy so it scares me from that perspective.

PR always tends to a be leading indicator of a recession, but also because history predicts agency work dries up for a few years when the large brands do this.

Because of that—and because of my experience as a business owner during the Great Recession—this is something I anticipate could affect my business growth.

Therefore I’m keeping a careful eye on it.

If it begins to happen with other brands, we have a pivot plan in place to move with the trend.

To be a PR strategic thinker, watch the trends. Pay attention to the economic signals. Watch the big moves happening in the industry. Anticipate how all of this could affect your career or your business.

Think Critically

Yesterday, while I was walking Jack Bauer, I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Critical thinking: The other national deficit.” I thought, “No kidding.”

And it seems to have gotten worse since the U.S. presidential election.

We tend to take things at face value and don’t use our critical thinking skills to question what’s in front of us.

You see this happen online all the time. My favorite is a photo of Abraham Lincoln with the caption, “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet just because there is a picture with a quote next to it.”

It’s why fake news exists.

We get complacent, we stop questioning, we become less curious…and all of that forces us to lose our competitive edge.

To be a PR strategic thinker, stop taking things at face value and use that brain of yours.

Interpret

It’s fairly easy to look at the P&G example I used above and dismiss it as one big mistake the company is making. It’s easy to think to yourself, “Next we’ll be hearing news they’ve hired three more PR agencies.”

But if you want to be considered a PR strategic thinker, you don’t take news like that at face value.

You pay attention to what other large companies are doing, particularly trend-setters such as P&G and Visa and Johnson & Johnson.

Watch what they do with PR and with their agencies. Find similarities in how they launch new campaigns. And interpret what you think that could mean for your organization or your client’s businesses.

To be a PR strategic thinker, you must watch trends, pay close attention to industry news, and interpret what it could mean for you.

Decide

Raise your hand if you overanalyze everything (I’m looking at some of you!).

Some people tend to get analysis paralysis and can’t make a decision to save their lives. They get wrapped up in all of the data and in trying to interpret what’s there, they paralyze themselves from moving forward.

In Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In,” she describes a poster they have on the wall at work, “It’s better to be finished than to be perfect.”

To be a PR strategic thinker, you need to be decisive, fast, and finished.

Align

This is one of the hardest ones for me for two reasons: I want everyone to have a voice and I have a strong, innate need to be liked.

It is impossible to have complete consensus (anyone who has planned a wedding knows you will never make everyone happy), but a PR strategic thinker will listen to all sides, assess the risks, bring tough issues out in conversation, and figure out where the balance is.

From a PR perspective, we do this nearly every day. We know how to communicate with different stakeholders and how to turn brand detractors into loyalists.

Now take that talent and turn it inward. How can you align the team you lead or the client’s organization or even your executive team?

To be a PR strategic thinker, stop being fearful and use your communication skills to align your teams.

Learn

One of my favorite sayings is, “It doesn’t matter if you fall, but in how you get up when you do.”

During the Great Recession, I had that taped to my wall and I looked at it every day.

To say I learned a ton in that three year period is putting it mildly.

Because of that (and other mistakes I’ve made), I’m a big believer in failing if you learn something from it.

To be a PR strategic thinker, you have to fail so you can learn. It’s the only way to do work on the other five habits.

How Do You Work on Being a PR Strategic Thinker?

So there you have it…a complete look at the habits you can develop to become a PR strategic thinker.

Now it’s your turn.

What habits do you have that lead to your being a strategic thinker?

How can you help others who are told they need to be more strategic, but have no idea what that means?